Obama to Push for New Cybersecurity Legislation Aimed at Increased Sharing With Private Sector

2015-01-13T16:37:00Z2015-01-13T16:37:02Z

Staff ReportThe Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is renewing his call for Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation.

He's expected to discuss his proposals at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in Arlington, Virginia, this afternoon. They include a proposal that encourages companies to share threat information with the government and protects them from potential lawsuits if they do.

The proposals are similar to congressional legislation that has been languishing on Capitol Hill, in part because of privacy concerns. But the White House is hoping that a recent spate of cyberattacks and data breaches - including November's hacking at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the administration blamed on North Korea - will spur lawmakers to take up the issue in the coming months.

The push comes after the Twitter and YouTube accounts for U.S. Central Command were taken over yesterday by hackers who claimed to be working on behalf of Islamic State militants.